Car-dumper



J. E. ROEMHELD.

CAR DUMPER.

APPLICATION man FEB. 18, 1918.

1,360,583, Patented NOV.30,1920.

5 SHEETS-SHEET I- J. E. ROEMHELD.

CAR DUMPER.

- APPLICATION FILED FEB. 18, 191B.

Patented Nov. 30, 1920.

fir/2272507" J. E. HOEMHELD.

CAR DUMPER.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 1B, 1918.

Patented Nov. 30, 1920.

5SHEETS-SHEET 5.

UNITED TATES PATENT, OFFICE.

JULEs nItoEr/IHELI), or CHICAGO, ILLINoIsns-sIGNoa'ro GREAT LAKES DREDGE AND DOCK COMPANY, or cnrcneo, ILLINOIS, ACORPORA'IION, or NEW JERSEY.

GAR-BUMPER.

Specification of Letters Patent. i I P- ltgnted N 30 1920;

Application filed February 18, 1918. Serial No'. 217,939.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Jones E. RonMHnLn, a c tlzen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Car Dumpers, of which the following is a specifications Car dumpers of the class to which myinvention relates are constructed to receive an open-topped coal car, or the like, of anyconstruction, and elevate it to the height reo uired andtilt or overturn it sidewise dumping its contents into a suitable chute which conveys the material to a vessel to be loaded, a storage dump, or the like. The car dumpers heretofore constructed consist of an elevator adapted to receive a single car and to raise and dump it, an incline or approach up which the cars to be dumped must be driven to reach the elevator, anda chute which is pivoted to the frame of the apparatus so that it may be lowered to a proper inclination to secure the flow of material dumped therein, and to discharge the 9 material into the vessel or the like to be loaded, and raised out of the way when the loading operation is completed. The machinery'and apparatus involved in dumpers of this char acter is complicated and difficult and expensive to install, maintain and operate. Itis the purpose of my invention to provide a car dumper of relatively simple construction, which is inexpensive to construct, maintain and operate. For this purpose I provide a rocking or tilting frame having mounted thereon tracks or supports which receive a car to be dumped, and a chute, the flared receiving end of which is so arranged relative to the tracks that when thepivoted structure is rotated toythe dumping posi tion the load of the car is discharged into the chute and by the latter conducted to the vessel to be loaded. The construction and movement of the tilting frame are substan tially like those of the well-known bascule bridge. v p

In the accompanying drawings I have shown and in the following specification described two somewhatsimilar but specifically different constructions embodying my invention. It is to be understood, however,

that the specific disclosure is for the purpose of exemplification only, and that the scope of the invention is defined in the following claim in which 'Ihaveendeavored to dis- 7' in which the trunnions. 8, 8 of the tilting tinguish it from the prior art so far as known to me without, however, relinquishing or abandoning any portion or feature thereof.

In the drawing,Figure l is a section on the line 1-1 of Fig. 3looking inthe direction of thearrowsshowing the preferred formof the apparatus in elevation in the position which it occupies when a car is received thereon; Fig. 2 is :a similar view of the same construction,-- the parts, however, being shown in the position which they occupy when avessel isbeing charged; F ig. 3 is a section throughthe line 33 ofFig. l on a plane perpendicular to the lattershowing the parts in the same position as-in Fig. 1; Fig. 4 a view similar to Fig. 1 but of a modified form of the invention; Fig. 5 is a section parallel to the plane of Fig. l on the line 55 of Fig. 3 on an enlarged scale showing more particularly the means for holding the car in place on the rocker frame; and Fig. 6 a detail section on the line 6-6 of Fig. 5.

Each part is designated by the same refer- 7 once character wherever it occurs through out the severalviews.

preferred form of the invention shown therein, the, stationary supporting frame is shown as comprising bifurcated standards .6, '6', spaced a suitable'distance apart and supporting at their upper ends bearings 7,

orrocking frame are received. Obviously, however, the particular form of the frame is immaterial if it provides suitable supports forthe tilting frame and associated mechanism. I have shown it as so located with reference-to the edge 9 of a dock from which vessels .10. are to beloaded that when the rocking frame is tilted'or swung to a position to dump a car the discharge end of the chute will be properly located with reference to the vessel to be loaded. c a The rocking or tilting frame maybe constructed of the usual structural materials of any suitable form and dimensions which will providethe required strength.v In the spem cific' form of mechanism illustrated in Figs.

1 to 3, inclusive, the frame comprises a pair of similar spiders 11 arranged upon opposite sides ofthe apparatus, the members 11 of which radiate with respect to the axis of the frame, anducertain of which support at I their outer ends a rack 12 which is concen:

trio with the axis of the frame. Said rack is preferably braced by the truss elements 13. A transverse shaft 14 (see dotted lines Fig. 3) is journaled in the standards 6 at the proper distance from the axis of the tilting frame and carries at its ends pinions 15 which mesh with the respective racks upon the tilting frame. By rotating the shaft 14 and the pinions thereon, the arcuate racks are operated to swing the frame. Any suitable means may be employed 'forrotating the shaft 14;, and for this purpose I have shown it as equipped with a gear wheel 16 meshing with speed reducing gearsl'T, 18, driven by an electric or other suitable 3" 10t01 19. These elements may be mounted in any suitable manner upon one of the standards 6. The chute 20 and car platform or sup port 21 are also connected to the spiders by suitable means, struts and frame work such, for example, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. As seen in Fig. 3 the chute comprises a flared or funnel shaped portion 22, which is widest as at 23 at its mouth or opening, where it is equal to or greater than the length of the longest car in connection with which the dumper is intended to be used. The mouth or opening is also of sufficient height rela tively to the width of the cars to be dumped as to receive the entire contents thereof when the rocking frame is tilted.

The car platform is inclosed in a rectangular frame or cage, the side members at of which on one side are substantially in the plane of the bottom of the chute, and the other side members 25 suitably spaced therefrom to admit between the two sets of side members the body of the car 26 to be dumped. The car'platform 21 is provided. with tracks 27 to receive the cars, and when the tilting frame is in the position shown in Fig. 1 these track sections register with and form substantial'continuations of stationary tracks arranged in "the usualmanner upon the ground and from which cars may be pushed upon the platform of the frame. Preferably in order to fix the position of: the track sections 27 when in the normal position shown in Fig. 1, I construct in the ground or immediately beneath the position ofsaid tracks, foundations or supports 28, and provide platform 21 with a supporting framework 29 of the proper height so that when the framework rests upon the foundations the track sections upon the platform are at the same level as the ground tracks.

It is obviously necessary that when the frame is tilted to dump the cars means he provided for locking the cars against the tilting movement relative to the rocking frame. Any suitable means may beprovided for this purpose, and I have illustrated in the. drawingsclamp members 30 which are'arranged to slide vertically the side members must be locked in place when the frame is tilted and must be capable of releasing the car when the frame is in normal position. 7 With this in view I have shown the clamping members as carried on pillars or followers 33, sliding in the posts or standards 25, which are made hollow for the purpose, said pillars being each provided with an inwardly eXtendin arm 34, braced as at 35, and carrying at its free end, which is substantially over the center of'thecar when the latter is in position on the frame, an upright 36. In normal position the clamps are raised as in Fig. 5 by contact of the lower ends of the pillars with supports 33..

As shown more particularly in Fig. 5 the clamping members are each provided at one edge with a locking device which is shown in the form of a pawl 53 carried by the clamping member and engaging a ratchet 54 upon the adjacent post 25. The pawl is provided with trunnions 56 which are pivoted in ears 57 of a bracket 58 which is bolted to the upper edgeof the clamping member. The corner of the clamping mem' her is cut away in an obvious manner to make room for the barrel 59 of the pawl, the curved seat so formed constituting a bearing for the pawl. The pawl is extended on the opposite side of itstrunnions to form a pair of arms 60, 60 arranged on opposite sides of the clamp (see Fig. 6) which are counterweightedat their lower ends as at 61 to such an extent that the counterwei rhts control the position of the pawl. when the rocking frame is in its normal position with the car upright the counterweights hold the pawl outof engagement with the rack but when the device tilts to the dumping position the weights throw the pawl into engagement, with the rack and hold the clamping member firmly in engagement with the edges of the car. Preferably the edge 62 of the clamping member opposite the pawl is received in a groove 63 of a guide 64 secured to one of the uprights or posts 24. Lugs 65 may also be formed upon the clamping member to embrace the opposite sides of the car and limit sidewise move ment. The coal chute may be rigid throughout, but preferably and in order to more widely distribute the coal as it flows from the chute, the latter is provided with a swinging end section 37 which is pivoted at 38 to swing in vertical plane, the cooperating ends of the main body of the coal chute and of the pivoted section being curved at 39, 40, respectively, concentric with the pivot and caused to overlap so that there may be no opening between the sections. The rack 41 on the pivoted section is engaged by a pinion 42 on the body of the chute, the latter being driven in any suitable manner, as for example, by a reversing electric motor 43, the current to which may be supplied from any suitable source and controlled wherever desired. The outer end of the pivoted section is provided with a gate 66 which is kept closed during the tilting operation until the section is in the proper position to discharge the coal or the like. Then the gate is opened to permit the coal in the chute to flow into the vessel to be loaded. As these gates are well known in constructions of the kind it is considered unnecessary to describe them in detail- It is desirable also in order to reduce the power necessary to operate the device to a minimum to provide a counter-weight 44 on the rotating frame, which is preferably of such magnitude as to nearly counter-balance the construction when the latter carries a on, As the frame tilts the clamp drops to locking position and holds the car securely,

as heretofore described, during the succeeding movement of the rocking frame and until the latter returns to normal position.

In the second form of the invention chosen for illustration the chute and means for holding the car are the same as above described, but the rocking frame instead of being mounted upon a stationary pivot is mounted upon a pair of rockers 45 which travel upon tracks 46 preferably arranged substantially at dock level. The rocking frame is provided at a point concentric with the rockers with a rotary shaft 46 upon the frames 49 of suitable construction and on opposite sides of the tilting or rocking frame. Obviously, by rotating. the shaft and itspinions 47 the latter may be caused to travel along the horizontal racks and thus rock the frame. The shaft may be rotated by any suitable or well-known means, as for example by an electric motor 50 mounted upon the rocking frame and connected to the shaft by reducing gearing 51, 52. In this form of the invention the rock ing frame not only rocks but travels in tilting toward the end of the pier or dock. In other respects, however, the operation as well as the construction is, or may be, similar to that of the preferred form of the invention previously described.

It will now be evident that by my invention I have produced a greatly simplified form of car dumper which may be readily operated and controlled with a minimum of labor, There are no cables or the like to wear out and require replacement, and

the cost of maintenance as compared to previous devices for the same purpose is low. Furthermore, the operating expense is relatively low for the reason that there is but the one structure or framework to be moved, and thisis substantially counter-bal strength arranged parallel to the tracks 46 frame for locking a car on a frame adjacent the receiving end of the chute, rack sectors v also mounted on the rocking frame concentric with the axis thereof, pinions for en gaging the said racks, and means for rotating the pinions.

JULES E. ROEMHELD. 

